"Great Expectations" musical coming to Arcade Theatre

Margaret Hoorneman and friends. Margaret Hoorneman, a 94-year-old Shell Point resident and former English teacher, will see her Broadway-bound musical "Great Expectations" performed in Fort Myers at the Arcade Theater at 7 p.m. on Monday, May 5. Everyone in the community who loves theater and Charles Dickens is invited to attend this free, one-time only performance.

In the 1960s, Hoorneman was teaching the classic book, Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, to her ninth-grade students in Le Mars, Iowa. Popular musical versions of "Oliver" and "A Christmas Carol" had been produced, and Hoorneman, a theater maven who believed a musical interpretation of "Great Expectations" would be a great success, waited for it to burst onto the Broadway stage. One day, after 15 years of relaxed retirement in Sanibel, she decided to adapt "Great Expectations."

Another five years passed and on Hoorneman's 85th birthday, Georgia and Gholi Darehshori, her daughter and son-in-law from Sanibel, surprised her with a themed birthday party, "Send Margaret to Hollywood." Funds were contributed for script specialist Steve Lozier to pare down the story to a 2½ hour production. Dick Winzeler's musical score was unveiled to everyone's delight, and Steve Lane was hired to write the musical lyrics. Finally, a demo tape was produced, featuring the voices of Debbie Reynolds, Patty Cohenauer and others. Hoorneman soon made the trip to Hollywood to meet the team.

The demo tape caught the attention of Richard Jay Alexander, the acclaimed director of Les Miserables and Miss Saigon on Broadway. Alexander directed a critically acclaimed read-through of "Great Expectations" in Los Angeles, starring Cloris Leachman as Miss Havesham, Hugh Panaro as Pip and Anastazia Barzee as Estella.

In May 2001, "Great Expectations" seemed destined for the "Great White Way." The New York Times ran a full page, very enthusiastic article. Then the 9-11 tragedies occurred and Broadway theater went into a slump. Funds for new productions dried up and old musicals were revived that were light and escapist by nature and inexpensive to produce.

"Great Expectations" is now being staged in Los Angeles at the Hudson Backstage theater in Hollywood. A recent issue of LA Weekly named "Great Expectations" a "Theater Pick" and called the musical a "delightful adaptation of Charles Dickens' saga." Jules Aaron, a highly respected director of over 250 plays and musicals in the L.A. area, is directing the current production. He has a special interest in themes from classical literature and is very excited about working with this cast and crew.

On May 5, Aaron will bring most of the cast from L.A. for a development workshop at the Arcade Theater, home of the Florida Repertory Theater. The Arcade Theater is located at 2267 1st Street in the Ft. Myers downtown River District.

The performance of "Great Expectations" is free, but those who wish to attend must have a ticket. Anyone interested in seeing a musical production of a Broadway bound work in progress, please call Barbara Hilton at (239) 267-4258 or Marj Nordstrom at (239) 395-2944 to reserve your tickets. Tickets are limited and will be given out on a first-come basis.